The aspirations and expectations of young people attending a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school in the South Wales Valley

This qualitative study explores the aspirations and expectations of fifty-two young people attending a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school in the South Wales Valleys (an area which has undergone significant and economic changes as a result of deindustrialisation). These young people were first interviewed at the start of Year 11 when they were considering their futures after compulsory education. Some of these young people were interviewed again approximately a year after to explore whether they were able to achieve their aspirations and to examine whether their long-term aspirations had changed. This study illustrates how wider trends such as the contraction of the youth labour market and increasing participation rates in further and higher education as well as transformations in the local labour market have changed the way in which young people understand their educational and employment prospects. Different to some of the young people in Brown’s (1987) Schooling Ordinary Kids study, all of the young people in this study aspired to stay in some form of education and training after Year 11. This study also identifies three types of students – The Academic Inheritors, the Academic Strivers and Vocational students – which differ in terms of their orientations to education and occupational futures. There are also variations between these types of students in terms of their social background, educational experiences and the character and usage of their social networks. The different types of students highlight the limitations of accounts which present Rational Choice Theory (associated with the work of Boudon (1974) and Goldthorpe (1998)) and Bourdieu’s Cultural Reproduction Theory as opposing/competing explanatory theories. This study also compared and contrasted the aspirations and expectations of young people who attended a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school. This study shows how school choice has an impact on the social composition of Welsh-medium and English-medium schools in South East Wales, with Welsh-medium schools on average having lower proportions of students from poorer households compared to English-medium schools. School choice provides some explanation for the differences between the aspirations of young people attending the Welsh-medium and the English-medium school in this study. This study offers a new analysis of the aspirations and expectations of young people finishing compulsory education, in a context of significant social and economic change. It also makes an original contribution by exploring the aspirations of young people who attend a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school – something which has not been explored in depth before by researchers. In addition, this study contributes towards debates regarding the extent that Rational Choice Theory and Bourdieu’s Cultural Reproduction Theory are able to explain young people’s aspirations and expectations. In attempting to explain differences in student orientations, it also shows that it is extremely difficult to empirically test the relative merits of these theories and as such contributes to existing discussions of educational opportunities and inequalities. This study also has policy implications regarding how key actors such as policymakers and schools can provide support to young people to fulfil and achieve their aspirations

Hanes y Degwm yng Nghymru yn ystod y Bedwaredd Ganrif ar Bymtheg, gyda sylw arbennig i ‘Ryfel y Degwm’.

Y mae’r traethawd hwn yn astudio hanes y degwm yng Nghymru o’r 1790au hyd at yr 1890au. Rhoddir sylw neilltuol i wrthglerigiaeth er mwyn asesu a oedd talu degymau i’r Eglwys Sefydledig wedi creu drwgdeimlad ar y lefel sylfaenol. Yn ogystal â hyn, edrychir ar yr elfen ‘foesol’ ynghylch talu’r degymau, ac i ba raddau y chwaraeodd y ‘gydwybod Ymneilltuol’ rôl yn hyn. Wedi arolygu’r llenyddiaeth berthnasol, y mae’r traethawd yn edrych yn fanwl ar y ‘wedd gyntaf’ o anniddigrwydd ynghylch y degymau yng Nghymru yn ystod cyfnod y Chwyldro yn Ffrainc. Dilynir hyn gan astudiaeth o’r ‘ail wedd’ yn ystod yr 1830au, cyn mynd ymlaen i edrych ar y cyfnod ‘distaw’ hwnnw o bron i hanner canrif rhwng 1836-1886. Y mae ail hanner o’r traethawd yn ffocysu ar ‘Ryfel y Degwm’ (fel y’i gelwid), rhwng 1886-1895. Rhoddir cyfrif cryno o’r cythrwfl yn gyntaf er mwyn gosod y penodau thematig sydd i’w dilyn o fewn cyd-destun cronolegol. Y mae’r bennod thematig gyntaf yn archwilio’r enghreifftiau o wrthglerigiaeth ar y lefel sylfaenol, megis creu a llosgi delwau o glerigwyr, yn ogystal ag enghreifftiau o fandaliaeth a bygythiadau. Dilynir hyn gan arolwg o gyflwr ariannol y clerigwyr ar y pryd, ac i ba raddau yr effeithiodd hyn ar eu bywydau beunyddiol. Diweddir yr adran drwy edrych yn fanwl ar y ‘cynhyrfwyr a’r cynhyrfus’, sef y bobl gyffredin a gymerodd ran yn ‘Rhyfel y Degwm’. Drwy ymdrin â hanes y degwm yng Nghymru yn y modd hwn, y mae’n bosib ychwanegu at ein dealltwriaeth drwy ail-gloriannu’r hen chwedl bod talu’r degymau yn anathema i Anghydffurfwyr, yn ogystal â chwalu’r fytholeg sydd wedi datblygu ynghylch ‘Rhyfel y Degwm’

Evaluating the sensitivity, reproducibility and flexibility of a method to test hard shell capsules intended for use in dry powder inhalers

Pharmaceutical tests for hard shell capsules are designed for orally administered capsules. The use of capsules in dry powder inhalers is widespread and increasing and therefore more appropriate tests are required to ensure quality and determine if these capsules are fit for purpose. This study aims to determine the flexibility, reproducibility and sensitivity of a quantitative method that is designed to evaluate the puncture characteristics of different capsule shell formulations under different climatic conditions. A puncture testing method was used to generate force displacement curves for five capsule formulations that were stored and tested at two different temperatures (5 °C and 19 °C). Force-displacement puncture profiles were reproducible for individual capsule shell formulations. The methodology was able to discriminate between capsules produced using different primary materials i.e. gelatin versus hypromellose, as well as more minor changes to capsule formulation i.e. different material grades and excipients. Reduced temperature increased the forces required for capsule puncture however further work is required to confirm its significance. Results indicate the method provides a reproducible and sensitive means of evaluating capsule puncture. Future studies should validate the methodology at different test sites, using different operators and with different capsule shell formulations

Suppression of tumour-specific CD4+ T cells by regulatory T cells is associated with progression of human colorectal cancer

Background. There is indirect evidence that T cell responses can control the metastatic spread of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, an enrichment of CD4(+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) has also been documented. Objective. To evaluate whether CRC promotes Treg activity and how this influences anti-tumour immune responses and disease progression. Methods. A longitudinal study of Treg activity on a cohort of patients was performed before and after tumour resection. Specific CD4(+) T cell responses were also measured to the tumour associated antigens carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and 5T4. Results. Tregs from 62 preoperative CRC patients expressed a highly significant increase in levels of Foxp3 compared to healthy age-matched controls (p=0.007), which returned to normal after surgery (p=0.0075). CD4(+) T cell responses to one or both of the tumour associated antigens, CEA and 5T4, were observed in approximately two-thirds of patients and one third of these responses were suppressed by Tregs. Strikingly, in all patients with tumour recurrence at 12 months, significant preoperative suppression was observed of tumour-specific (p=0.003) but not control CD4(+) T cell responses. Conclusion. These findings demonstrate that the presence of CRC drives the activity of Tregs and accompanying suppression of CD4(+) T cell responses to tumour-associated antigens. Suppression is associated with recurrence of tumour at 12 months, implying that Tregs contribute to disease progression. These findings offer a rationale for the manipulation of Tregs for therapeutic intervention